What happened and Miki came first??
And what went wrong with russian ladies, I was hoping Makarova to improve from last year, Leonova is a matter of time anyway to dropped off, once the wonderbabies become eligible in seniors.

Kanako will have her chances - as will Akiko and Miki. One of them will secure a spot with a highest placement at the GPF.
The other spot will be determined at Natls. Assuming Mao is safe no matter how she skates at Natls.

IIRC, I'm not sure if they're doing the GPF requirement this year. I remember reading that in one of the threads somewhere. Can our Japanese friends on the board clarify, please?

It will depend on all three factors (GPF placements, Nationals, and ISU ranking).

Yep, in non-Olympic years the federation has the right to choose whomever they wish from the top 3 japanese skaters in those categories. Since we know that the top 3 in the GPS are Miki, Kanako, and Akiko, and that the top 3 in the ISU rankings are Akiko, Miki, and Mao, the above criteria don't confirm anything we don't already know.

If Mao shows a decent performance between TEB and Nationals, I'm assuming it'll be Miki, Mao, and whomever performs better at Nationals between Akiko and Kanako. If Mao doesn't get her jumps back before then, it'll be Miki, Akiko, and Kanako (still a formidable team, IMO).

Sidenote: they always have funky rules for Olympic years. Last season, they had the "top finisher in GPF" rule, and for Torino, they had a points-based system based on cumulative performance in the past Olympic cycle (which is how Miki got in despite not doing too well at Nationals).

I bet Miki changes her SP between now and the GPF. The judges just seem to hate it and are unwilling to give her a good score for it regardless of the jumps she lands. The LP is a snooze but the judges are at least giving her big scores for it.

It's also just a matter of time until their date with Mr. Puberty, everyone's ill favored home wrecker and every little girl's worst nightmare.

I think it was silverlake, our resident GS puberty expert who said there are too many Russian babies for all of them to fall victim.
But you are right - and actually it will be fun to see how Russian Natls turn out. Their Men are a trainwreck but maybe the Russian-Jersey girl Ksenia can defend her title.

I mean, seriously, there is an adjustment period they will all have to go through. The physics change as you grow and fill out. It's something you deal with- and some handle it better than others- but it's hardly a "home wrecker" or "worst nightmare"...IT'S PART OF THE PROCESS

It's those who don't prepare for it, or don't think it will happen, that get hit the hardest.

It's also just a matter of time until their date with Mr. Puberty, everyone's ill favored home wrecker and every little girl's worst nightmare.

There are so many good baby Russian girls. Ovcharova, Shelepen, Tuktamysheva, Sotnikova, Agafonova, and even the younger ones like Lipnitskaya. The level of depth is astounding. The chances that someone will survive puberty is pretty high.